San Diego Resident Wins National Sierra Club Award

SAN FRANCISCO – Sept. 23, 2000 – A long-time environmental leader from San Diego was among those receiving awards from the national Sierra Club this year.

Camille Armstrong received the One Club Award, which was created by the Sierra Club in 1999 to recognize people who use outings as a way of protecting public lands and instilling an interest in conservation. The award was presented at the Sierra Club Awards Banquet in San Francisco Sept. 23.

Armstrong established the One Club outings/conservation program in San Diego in 1996 with the help of a $7,000 grant from the national Sierra Club. The program brings together local outings leaders and conservation activists to lead conservation outings designed simultaneously to explore, enjoy and protect local wild places. Armstrong compiled a 55-page Conservation Outings book showing 28 local places ideal for conservation outings. The book includes maps, resources, and a description of each area and how it is threatened.

The San Diego program has since become a model for Sierra Club chapters across the country. Armstrong currently serves on the Sierra Club’s national Outdoor Activities Governance Committee, overseeing a program to assist other Sierra Club chapters who want to start outings-conservation programs.

"The One Club program has the potential to shape the very fabric of the Sierra Club’s outings and conservation programs for years to come," said David Simon, chair of the Outdoor Activities Governance Committee.

Armstrong has previously received numerous awards for her work, including six from the San Diego Chapter of the Sierra Club. In 1998 she received an environmental protection award from the San Diego Women’s History Reclamation Project.

The Sierra Club, which was founded in 1892 by John Muir, is the country’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization. It currently has more than 600,000 members. For more information on the San Diego Chapter and its activities, visit its website at http://www.sierraclub.org/chapters/sandiego.